James Ayotte, owner of Team Atlas Gym has been accused of allegations of misconduct and harsh behavior with his female clients persuading them to undergo tough training and use drugs which led them to collapse further and get hospitalized.
Who is James Ayotte
James Ayotte is a well-known businessman and trainer based in Quebec, Canada. As his business has developed, James Ayotte Team Atlas has attracted a lot of attention. James Ayotte Team Atlas is frequently referred to as “the best bikini coach in the world,” and he has a remarkable track record of assisting women in becoming professional bikini competitors in the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation.
What is Team Atlas?
The best option for people who want to change their bodies and reach new levels of fitness is Team Atlas. We provide a comprehensive program under the direction of Coach James Ayotte the leading provider of IFBB Pro Bikini Coaching. Due to the Greek legendary character Atlas, the name “Team Atlas” was selected.
An ambitious bodybuilder was coached till she passed out and is currently being kept alive.
The trainer for Neggy Shelton has been charged with wrongdoing and has no background in medicine. James Ayotte Team Atlas creates winners as well. She put all her faith in him.
Following an intense conditioning program from one of the fitness industry’s most contentious coaches, a 36-year-old female bodybuilder who fainted days before a competition in November is currently on life support.
Neggy Shelton was relying on performance-enhancing pharmaceuticals and an 890-calorie diet recommended by her trainer, James Ayotte, in order to complete her two-and-a-half-hour workouts.
Neggy Shelton’s words– “I’m very low energy and sometimes I have dizziness,”
Ayotte responds– “No problem Do your best,”. “Just don’t cheat on the diet!”
According to medical records examined by The Washington Post, Shelton was discovered unconscious and with dangerously low blood glucose levels in her Ashburn, Virginia apartment two days after the transaction.
Shelton’s hypoglycemia condition was “certainly food, vitamins, and extensive workouts,” according to medical professionals at Inova Loudoun Hospital, and it probably contributed to her brain injury. She is currently in an Alexandria medical institution.
According to a recent investigation by The Post, Shelton, an immigrant from Iran who had aspirations of competing professionally, is a stark example of how bodybuilders are putting their lives in danger and even dying because of extreme measures that are supported by coaches, praised by judges, and disregarded by industry leaders.
James Ayotte Team Atlas disclaimed any culpability or involvement in what happened to Shelton.
James Ayotte Team Atlas said that from what he understood if someone had found her sooner- “she would have been perfectly fine.”
Further, Ayotte mentioned- “No way on me and anything I’ve done,”
Shelton’s experience highlights the dangers of a sport with little regulation and no licensing requirements for coaches, who frequently determine an athlete’s dietary needs, exercise routine, and pharmacological regimen as they train for months to compete. The Post discovered that when something goes wrong, the athletes are the ones who bear the consequences with little to no fallout for the coaches.
Shelton was preparing for a competition held in Virginia by the National Physique Committee, the top amateur bodybuilding organization in the nation. Several events worldwide that are sanctioned by the NPC and its professional counterpart, the IFBB Pro League, do not routinely test participants for the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing medications. The health, safety, and welfare of all of our competitors have, and always will be, of the utmost importance to us, Federation officials have stated in a previous company statement, which they have declined to respond to in detail in response to questions from The Post.
Last year, when Shelton first came across James Ayotte Team Atlas on Instagram, James Ayotte Team Atlas had already amassed a sizable social media following from his postings of his clients’ spectacular transformations, which he refers to as “eggs.” He resides in Montreal and runs his business there under the name Team Atlas.
James Ayotte Team Atlas, 30, is an entrepreneur with no prior experience in medicine. According to an interview on a bodybuilding podcast from 2020, James Ayotte Team Atlas worked as a trainer after struggling with weight and spent a year “self-researching” before instructing his first bodybuilding client.
James Ayotte’s True Face
James Ayotte Team Atlas has also been the target of charges of wrongdoing for years. Many competitors have accused James Ayotte Team Atlas of sexual misconduct, including making requests for nude images, according to Georgina Dunnington, the former chair of the Canadian Bodybuilding Federation. As a result, two bodybuilding organizations in Canada suspended him for life in 2018.
According to interviews with a dozen bodybuilders and coaches, a review of emails, messages, videos, police reports, and court documents, as well as a look at emails, messages, videos, police reports, and court records, Ayotte has recently been accused by former clients of engaging in sexual misconduct, offering risky contest preparation plans, and assisting in the supply of athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.
There is “no merit” to any allegations of sexual misbehavior, Ayotte claimed, and dismissed the lifelong punishment as being politically driven. In addition, he asserted that he had not sent any medicine parcels to clients.
Drug dealing by James Ayotte
Some former clients and letters documenting the transactions claim that drug orders were occasionally handled with Hannah Mehregan’s assistance and classified as essential oils or vitamins to dodge customs.
The message referenced several drugs that the World Anti-Doping Agency bans:
- Ostarine: A synthetic drug known as a “SARM,” a selective androgen receptor modulator that mimics the effects of anabolic steroids and is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration;
- Tamoxifen: A prescription drug for breast cancer patients that bodybuilders use to try to burn fat more easily;
- Clenbuterol: A fat burner medicine approved only for horses in the United States and Canada.
The Post reviewed these messages, along with a receipt and photos of the drugs. James Ayotte Team Atlas and Mehregan declined to comment on these transactions or their clients’ use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Another example of misconduct performed by gym trainer Ayotte
Another example of misconduct behavior committed by James Ayotte Team Atlas was with female client Drabant. Drabant, though, started to feel uneasy shortly after meeting her new coach. She claimed that after telling her to remove her clothing, Ayotte touched her legs and glutes as she posed in a thong and bra. She claims that when she declined his offer to massage her, he persisted and urged her to spend the night. To warn other bodybuilders, Drabant shared a video about the incident on Instagram. She then reported the incident to the police.
An attorney sent Drabant a “legal notice” requesting that she take down the video and delete her comments. Nevertheless, after hearing from numerous other women who, in her opinion, shared comparable experiences, she made the decision to upload a second video. Jim Manion, who oversees the NPC and IFBB Pro League, was among the federation leaders she hoped to catch the eye of.
James Ayotte Team Atlas acknowledged touching Drabant as he helped her pose.
According to court documents, Ayotte abandoned his claim against one of the women while a $25,000 judgment was recorded against the other after the case went to default because the first woman failed to answer the claim made against her.
In the end, Drabant learned that the legal threat she had received in reaction to her Instagram video was actually coming from Ayotte, acting as an attorney. She made a complaint to the Montreal Bar. Ayotte was found guilty this year and given a $3,250 fine, according to agency filings. This act was acknowledged by Ayotte later.
Darbant Words- “I’m literally just trying to hold this guy accountable for his wrongdoing.”
Concluding with the allegations on Ayotte for tough, strict training almost leading to death and also the recovery process for Neggy Shelton
With adverts on the NPC website, Ayotte and Team Atlas are still able to keep up their high profile. One of the federation’s top show promoters lists Team Atlas in its directory “to help find the perfect coach.” At the Olympia in Las Vegas this past weekend, James Ayotte Team Atlas stood beaming backstage, surrounded by his female athletes in bikinis. He posted the photo and various others on Instagram: “I can’t believe how good all my girls look it’s unbelievable.”
On the other hand, Shelton had no health insurance, so his family and friends back in Virginia are attempting to raise money for the bodybuilder’s medical and other costs. Late this month, they held a party in the hospital to honor her 36th birthday, complete with cake and balloons. Her sister gave her nails a vibrant pink manicure. Every day, Shaltouki and her mother travel nearly two hours to visit Shelton in the medical center.
One recent evening before they departed, Shaltouki huddled close to her older sister, muttered Naghmeh’s entire name, and begged her in Farsi to “please wake up.”
